Incongruous
by kittycatofdoomage
Summary: Sakura after so many years has become strong, strong enough to be sent on a mission to infiltrate Akatsuki.Life is never simple though, so when Sauske wages war on kohona and Sakura falls in love with the wrong guy what's a girl to do but kick some ass?
1. Prolouge

Incongruous

Life twists and turns, dancing and looping in an eternal circle, or at least that's what I've found in my travels. I may be wrong, so many others before me have been, but I think that life is far too unpredictable to be a straight line. People change, the good become evil, the weak become strong, and sometime the people you love turn into the people you hate. All and all life is one twisting, dancing loop and like a tornado it sucks you up, tosses you around, and just when you're about to give up it spits you out where there are lots of rainbows and dancing munchkins with giant lollipops.

Steam curled around me, licking my alabaster skin and caressing my petite form. I sighed retreating into the warm embrace of the water in the sanctuary of the hot springs and let the tension fade from my well toned muscles. Slowly, whether from the rare moment of peace or the delirium caused by staying in the hot water for too long I began to let memories of the past latch on to me and drag me under. I could barley fathom how much I had changed, no how much everything had changed.

I was once naïve, thinking that my prince charming would fall for me and sweep me off my feet, but I grew out of that once I realized what my prince really craved; power. I tore myself away from my silly empty headed ways and began to train seriously because I _needed_ to become what he craved. However, my teacher had given up on me probably at first sight when he saw I had bubble gum pink hair. After all what serious ninja had _pink_ hair? I was overshadowed by my teammates and protected because like a flower I was fragile and might just break if the wind blew too hard. I was meant to be looked at but never touched; always there to support my team but never fighting.

Then memories over came me flooding my head in a violent torrent , memories of rain and onyx eyes staring straight through me, never at me. After all, I wasn't worth staying for.

"Thank you" Two mysterious words for a lifetime of devotion

Then blackness. The bastard knocked me out and left me in the cold and rain on a freaking park bench. Well I suppose that's more than I expected from him. I would have thought he would have left me on the ground. I guess he thought his one small kindness would soften the blow. He was wrong.

Naruto. His soft cerulean eyes, his eternal love, his devotion, his dreams; gone. He left to train, for me, to become stronger, for me, and to bring back Sasuke, for me. I guess at some point, although I don't know when, I began to love him, in what way I'm not sure, but I know I love him enough to die for him and would go to hell and back to save him. He inspired me to become a stronger ninja, so that I could protect him from Akatsuki. That's how I became the Hokage's apprentice and one of the most if not the best medical ninjas in the world. I became strong. I finally bloomed.


	2. Chapter 1

A shadow slipped in through the open window, slipping out of the jaws of night and into the gentle glow of the bedroom. The man paused for a moment, casting a curious eye towards his former student, and momentarily disappointed by her lack of caution. Hadn't one of his most prevalent lessons been to never let your guard down even in your own home? Suddenly, the practiced ninja whirled around, drawing his kunai as he felt a powerful surge of chakra behind him. His jaw dropped in astonishment as he finally noticed the source of the dim glow, a solid wall of chakra, surrounding his former student's entire home. The complexity of the jutsu alone was amazing, disregarding the impeccable chakra control necessary to maintain such a jutsu in one's sleep.

The silver haired ninja sighed, removing his anbu mask in the process. When had Sakura become so skilled? He knew that it was certainly no thanks to him that Sakura had become such an esteemed and renowned ninja, and for that he would always be regretful. Despite the enhanced sight of the sharingan, he had been blind to her potential, instead focusing his efforts on her comrades. Now she was able to create a selective chakra barrier, a feat nearly unheard of, and he could take no responsibility for her skill.

The warm glow of the pink chakra surrounding the room surged as Kakashi felt a soft tickling feeling encase his arm. He looked down to see that his left arm had a band of pink chakra running around it, only visible once inside the barrier. The ninja smiled at the pink headed girl, silently commending her intelligence. She had tagged him with a miniscule amount of her chakra allowing him and a few select others to enter her home while the barrier was active.

"So that's why the Hokage turned me into her errand boy" muttered Kakashi under his breath, guessing he was one of only a handful of ninja who could enter the house.

He then lightly bounded to Sakura's bedside and leaned down till her face was mere centimeters from his. He was so close that could feel the tickle of her warm breath each time she exhaled. Finally he whispered, just loud enough to wake her

"Boo."

The result was chaotic and instantaneous. Sakura bolted up from the bed, her pink strands of hair flying around her face in a hellish blaze. Her eyes were those of pure puppy-kicking-rainbow-smashing-downright-_scary_ evil. If Kakashi had been a lesser man he would have been a puddle of spineless goo on the floor by now.

"Kakashi." She growled in a sleepy rumble "Why the hell did you just wake me from the first decent sleep I've had all week? Do you know how long I've been working at the hospital? The answer is no. You have no idea how many people I have to sew back together on a daily basis or you obviously wouldn't have woken me from my precious sleep!"

"Sakura now, is that how you greet your favorite sensei?" he asked, cocking his head to the side. "And of course I know how hard you work. You work _nearly_ as hard as me." He said jokingly, for everyone knew he was one of the laziest ninja currently in existence. "I wouldn't have woken you if it wasn't urgent, but Tsunade needs you. Now. It's about Naruto."

With those words, as if by magic, Sakura deflated back to her normal, happy, compassionate self. Kakashi sighed

_Dear God this girl has the most frightening temper….and mood swings to match. _He thought.

"Kakashi … is Naruto alright?" Sakura asked, her mood suddenly frighteningly somber.

"I don't know. It seems everyone is after Konoha's number one ninja these days…" he answered.

Then in a flash, the pink haired girl was out the window and bounding across rooftops to the Hokage tower.

Kakashi sweat dropped "The girl forgot she was in her pajamas" he muttered, images of pink cotton pants plastered with fuzzy bunnies still swimming across his vision.

When Sakura arrived at the Hokage tower, her senses were overpowered with the overwhelming aroma of sake, the first omen that tonight was going to be a _very_ bad night. Tsunade usually only drank excessively when she had to be the bearer of bad news…or when she was gambling. However, the former was the more likely scenario considering there was only one person besides Tsunade in her office and the current Hokage deemed any card game with less than four players "not worth her time", despite her aptitude for loosing every card game no matter how "worthy" she deemed it.

Sakura took a deep breath and in that brief moment of silence she heard the hushed murmuring of whispers, too low for even her trained ears to catch. Then, she knocked and patiently waited for the door to swing open. Tsunade sat at her heavy oak desk, Shikamaru at her side. None of this was out of the ordinary, for Shikamaru was a brilliant strategist and constant advisor to the Hokage, but there was something that made Sakura stop dead in her tracks and gasp. Tsunade's face was streaked with tears.

Sakura had only seen Tsunade cry once in all the years she'd known her.

It was the final day of her strenuous training with Tsunade. She had been on top of the world, finally believing that she was worth something after all. Her teammate(s) could return knowing that she was no longer a _burden_. It was her turn to save _them_. The tall blonde woman had walked up to her, eyes shining with pride and understanding.

"Come on Sakura," she said "Let's go get a drink. Lord knows you've certainly earned it"

It had started out as just one drink. Sakura never even finished her first, but Tsunade was an entirely different story. It was obvious to Sakura, who had grown as close to the woman as anyone had ever been, that drinking reopened painful wounds for Tsunade, wounds that could only be drowned by sake. This turned into a vicious cycle, in which a woman couldn't decide if she would rather remember or forget her past, and the alcohol in her blood certainly didn't help. Soon Tsunade, respected and beloved Hokage of Konoha, was lost in her past, reliving her most painful and deeply buried memories.

Perhaps it was sitting next to the girl who had grown to become her surrogate daughter, who was so painfully like her past self that she had felt an irresistible compulsion to make the girl strong, that transformed sake from an escape to an inescapable hell. Images flashed before her eyes of past loves, family, teammates. And death. So much death. No healing, just destruction. Tsunade eventually succumbed to the beck and call of the comforting blackness that relieved her of the pain.

Reality was blurred as her pink haired companion gently carried the hurting woman to her home where she sat with her all night as silent comfort. The next morning, Sakura healed Tsunade, erasing any unsavory after effects of the alcohol she had consumed and slipped out before the woman woke, leaving her to believe that it was all just a nightmare. Previously, that was the only time she had ever seen Tsunade loose her composure, but that night was nothing compared to what she looked like now.

To put it simply Tsunade looked like hell. Her eyes were red and puffy, her hair disheveled, and she looked as if the weight of the entire world rested upon her shoulders and the weight was crushing her, despite her super strength.

Upon noticing Sakura's entrance, Tsunade straightened herself, healing her eyes so that they were no longer red and brushed the tears from her face. She observed her apprentice, her favorite pupil, pondering how it was possible that a small girl managed to morph into such a beautiful woman. She had long, lustrous, pink hair that cascaded down her back, stopping at her shoulder blades. The strands of her hair varied, from the palest pink to the sultry hue often found streaked throughout the most dazzling sunsets, converging to create a truly unique hair color that made her emerald green eyes pop. She was petite in stature, giving her a pixie like appearance, but she had well toned muscles that hinted at the hours of tedious training the girl had suffered through. Lastly her pale skin, smooth and unmarred by the scars traditionally garnered by ninja of her rank, made her look like a porcelain doll and gave many the urge to shelter her. She looked far too innocent to be able to complete that task she was about to be given, her eyes shining with empathy and hope. Sakura was a healer, meant to create, but the task she was about to be assigned would likely crush her innocence, leaving her an empty shell of her former self and a weapon of pure destruction.

Tsunade's earlier thoughts about her apprentice being too innocent for this mission was reiterated by the fact that the girl was currently wearing pajamas covered in pink fuzzy bunnies.

_Dear God _Tsunade thought _the girl forgot to change._

"Sakura," Tsunade said, regaining her composure "I…I'm sorry, but as you know the good of the village comes before anything. Before ninja, before the Hokage, and even before the people I care about most."

For a moment Sakura's heart throbbed with the knowledge that she was one of the people Tsunade cared about most, of course she had always known, but it was different to hear the words spoken aloud. Then, she remembered Kakashi had said something about Naruto being in danger.

"Tsunade, please, Kakashi told me you thought Naruto was in danger….I mean more danger than usual." Sakura said, breathing heavily from her panicked dash here and smiling at the thought of the mischievous blond ninja.

"As I was saying," Tsunade continued, sending a glare towards her apprentice. "Spies in Amegakure have gathered new information on Akatsuki. Their next target is Naruto." Tsunade saw her apprentice begin to open her mouth and quickly silenced her by raising her hand. "Now _let me finish_." The Hokage ground out. "Akatsuki has _not_ captured all of the tailed beasts yet, but the only ones they appear to be missing are the eight and nine tailed beasts. The eight tailed beast's location is currently unknown, so Akatsuki has evidently decided to attempt to capture and imprison Naruto. Probably because that hot-headed _idiot_ will likely play right into whatever devious plan they concoct, but regardless, we _cannot_ let Akatsuki capture Naruto or there is no hope for Kohona." Tsunade said, slamming her fist down on her desk. "Unfortunately it is well known that Naruto loves you enough to do _anything _to get you back, meaning that Akatsuki will likely attempt to use you as bait. Making matters worse, Orochimaru has been far too quiet for my taste. If I know that snaky bastard like I think I do, I'm sure he's plotting something that will make my life hell. "

Shikamaru stepped forward, speaking for the first time

"Interesting clothing choice Sakura" he said smirking

Sakura looked down at herself, blushing once she realized she was still wearing her childish pajamas.

Shikamaru gave her a slight smile, as if he were proud of himself for lightening the mood, and continued "Naruto is one of the key offensive fighters Konoha has and if we go to war, we need him on the front line, however, we can't put him on the battle field if we think there's a chance that Akatsuki will show up and snatch him." He stated "I'm sorry Sakura but…" he was interrupted by the hokage

"I have a mission for you Sakura." She said calmly "You're free to deny this mission, it's higher ranked than S class and you may never be able to return to Konoha, in fact the probability of death is so high that it's nearly a suicide mission…but if anyone can pull it off, it's you. The plan is crazy, but it might just be crazy enough to work."

"Why does it have to be me?" Sakura asked

"This plan won't work with anyone besides you." Shikamaru said throwing Sakura a regretful look.

"The plan is for you to default from Konoha and join Akatsuki." Tsunade said quietly "We are the only ones who can know about your mission. There will be no record of this mission. Naruto needs to hate you. Konoha has to hate you. "She said reproachfully

"But why? Why can't I tell anyone, just my closest friends!" Sakura pleaded brokenly

"Sakura, if Naruto hates you, he won't come after you. You won't be able to be used as bait. Think of the advantages. Think of how you could save Naruto! You could feed us information about Akatsuki and we would know how they planned to capture him. You could tell us if Akatsuki allied with sound and when it would be safe to have Naruto fight. You could save Konoha." Shikamaru explained calmly

"…It would destroy Naruto. Two teammates gone…I don't know if he would be able to stand it and I refuse to be the one who kills him!" Sakura shouted, fire in her eyes

"You'd be saving him, Sakura" Shikamaru soothed

"No damn it! I don't mean physically! If I turned Akatsuki it would kill Naruto's spirit, his will, his _dreams_! Don't you know what he's _been_ through?

"Yes I know exactly what he's been through and that's exactly why this needs to be done." Tsunade said "He has given too much to this village for it to fall before he becomes Hokage."

Sakura gasped, and fat tears began to roll down her face. "You mean that you're going to make him Hokage?" She whispered hopefully

"Of course, once this trouble is resolved. He's worked too hard not to have his dream come true." Tsunade said with a sad smile.

"But Akatsuki, they'll never accept me." Sakura said

"Actually, they're searching for a new member since you killed Sasori and you are _exactly_ what they need. Most of the Akatsuki members have offensive based skills, so they need a ninja with primarily defensive skills. You're med nin training focused primarily on defensive skills, you have an aptitude for genjutsu, you have perfect chakra control, and you can form chakra barriers." Shikamaru stated "You're exactly what they're looking for."

"There's one more thing." Tsunade chimed in

"What?" both Sakura and Shikamaru asked in unison

"Akatsuki has been looking for a med nin for years, that's why I've tried to keep you at the hospital Sakura."

"Why?" Sakura asked truly puzzled

"Uchiah Itachi is blind." Tsunade answered. "Akatsuki has not yet been able to find a med nin capable of healing his eyes and trust me, it's not from lack of trying." Tsunade's claim was met by silence.

"That doesn't make any sense, why wouldn't they have kidnapped Sakura by now if they need a med nin?" Shikamaru asked, for once stumped

Tsunade smiled a wily grin

"Akatsuki doesn't know Sakura has surpassed me. They think she has not improved since her battle with Sasori and is less skilled than several of the med nin who have already failed to heal Itachi's eyes. Ever since I became aware of Itachi's failing vision, I began spreading false information about Sakura and keeping her hidden away at the hospital as often as possible. If the false information went to the right people then Akatsuki thinks Sakura switched her training to focus primarily on genjutsu with merely adequate medical training."

"How long has Itachi been blind for?" Shikamaru questioned, obviously stunned to learn that the most feared missing nin of Konoha was blind

"According to my research on the deterioration of the sharingan, his vision would have begun significantly decreasing around five years ago and he probably went blind roughly a year ago give or take a few months."

Sakura and Shikamaru both looked at their Hokage in horror.

"…You mean that he has survived and fought for over a year without even being able to see?" Sakura gasped "What kind of monster is he? Imagine the destruction he'll wreak once he can _see_ again! Dear god if he could remain one of the most dangerous Akatsuki without his most feared weapon, just imagine what it'll be like when he gets it back!"

Shikamaru shuddered "Tsunade are you sure you want to allow Itachi to regain his Sharingan? We may have to reconsider the plan. I wasn't aware of this information…."

Tsunade interrupted once again "Sakura, another goal of your mission is to take out as many Akatsuki members as possible." She said grinning "Those bastards won't know what hit them!"

"Tsunade, if war with Sound is truly approaching then this is no time to celebrate. Besides, what happens to the mission if you both die or are captured?" Sakura asked, dreading the answer. "After all if Konoha goes to war you'll both be high priority targets.

Tsunade became serious once again "Then there would be no proof that you defaulted on orders and you would remain a traitor in the eyes of Konoha forever." She replied "However, for the sake of the village, you would have to continue the mission by exterminating as many Akatsuki members as possible and secretly aiding Konoha in feasible way. Make no mistake, this will be the hardest mission you've ever been sent on, both mentally and physically. I wish I didn't have to give it to you… but you're the only one. Do you accept?" Tsunade asked softly, her voice choking up towards the end

Sakura clenched her fists, and looked up with fire burning in her eyes. "I never even had a choice. There was never a single doubt in my mind about accepting this mission. "She said softly "I'll do anything to protect Naruto…he's…my most precious person.

Tsunade's eyes widened in understanding.

"So you finally grew to love the idiot." Shikamaru said, lazily, slouching and putting his hands in his pockets now that the tension in the room had dissipated ((a.n. This is NOT a narusaku fic although they will have some sibling love….ish moments :D))

"Of course, the charm of Kohona's number one ninja is absolutely irresistible." Sakura said, smiling weakly. "I have one request about the mission. Could we let Kakashi in on the plan? I don't want him to feel that he trained two traitors?" Sakura asked bitterly

"Why I'm honored my favorite pink haired student was so concerned with her dear old sensei's well being." Kakashi chuckled in his low tenor as he appeared on the window ledge.

"BAKA!" screamed Tsunade and Sakura in unison

"How much did you hear?" Tsunade growled

"Oh come now Tsunade, did you really think I wouldn't listen in when my beloved students are obviously in grave danger?" Kakashi replied flippantly.

Tsunade deflated, recognizing the concern shining deep in Kakashi's single visible eye.

"Well, we have a lot of details to go over before we send our beloved Sakura off on her mission, so sit your butt down Kakashi." She said, resigned to her fate of constantly having to deal with overly nosey ninja.

"Tsunade and I devised a weeklong intensive training program to prepare you for your mission" Shikamaru vocalized in his lazy drawl. "It focuses on acting, espionage, communication jutsus, and criminal networks. When you defect from Konoha, Akatsuki isn't going to just pick you up right away, you're going to need to build up a criminal reputation and to do that you'll have to do some small jobs for crime bosses before you hear from Akatsuki.

Sakura nodded. Her face was that of acceptance, but the features slowly began to melt and form into those of doubt.

"What's wrong?" Kakashi asked, looking at his student

Sakura silently cursed her perceptive sensei. He knew her too well for her own good! Gathering her thoughts she took a deep breath and said,

"I was thinking and Naruto still hasn't given up on finding Sasuke, after all the years and all the pain, Naruto is still searching for him."She paused to inhale"For God's sake, Sasuke tried to kill Naruto, not once but _multiple_ times, and Naruto still hasn't given up on him. What the hell is going to get him to give up on _me_?"

"That's easy." Tsunade said "You have something Sasuke never had…his heart, and if you truly love Naruto you're going to have to shatter it into billions of itty bitty pieces." She finished, looking down at the floor in a silent apology

Upon hearing this news Sakura felt a new pain in her chest, one that had been healed by the very boy she was about to destroy. All around her the world spun, spinning out of control until she couldn't make sense of anything except for that sound. The wretched sound of something slowly breaking. It sounded as if someone had crushed something made of glass. She could hear the tinkling sound of the shards hitting the floor as the object continued to fracture. Darkness began to whisk her away, but just before it reached her, Sakura realized that the sound was coming from her. It was the sound of her own fragile, glass heart breaking into shards too small to piece back together. Sasuke had broken her heart once before, but Naruto had been there to pick up the pieces. This time there was no Naruto, no shoulder to cry on, no one to lean on, and she knew that there would be no putting her heart back together. Because this time the pieces were too small for her to even see.

….

**Notes from the author **

**I appreciate the reviews I've gotten so far and just know reviews= faster update.I was so excited about getting my 1****st**** review that I stayed up until 2 writing this.**

**Dramatic end to chapter 1 much? I know some of you are probably sitting there wondering why the heck I switched from 1****st**** person in the prologue to 3****rd**** person in chapter 1. The answer is simple: I believe that each person interprets characters differently and I wanted all the readers to get a good grasp on what **_**I**_** thought Sakura was like before the real story began. I also feel it helps explain Sakura's motives and is a good quick review of her past.**

**I'm open to suggestions and advice for the plot/ characters although I already have something in mind. This is my first ever fanfic so tell me what you think. **


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